Not Looking For a Love Affair
by kishiria
Summary: NOW COMPLETE. Gundam 0083. Anavel Gato's stay in Von Braun before he rejoined the Delaz fleet
1. Default Chapter

The clinic waiting room was jammed with people. Refugees of some sort or other mostly, with a few disgusted-looking citizens sprinkled in. Many of the refugees were huddled families but Anavel Gato counted a good dozen military types. They were probably Jion, but he didn't want to ask.  
  
All the seats were taken so he was sitting on the floor. His friend Kelly Layzner lay on a spread-out overcoat, his head on Gato's knee. Kelly was covered with another overcoat and wearing all their warm clothing, but it still didn't keep him from shivering uncontrollably. His lips were grey and Gato kept a comforting hand on his right shoulder. He was too worried about the stump of Kelly's left arm to go near it.  
  
After six hours, Kelly's name was called. Gato helped him to his feet and supported him into an examining room. The doctor was a woman, very young and very serious. She glanced at the chart prepared by the nurse and asked, "I can tell which of you is the patient. What can I do for you?"  
  
Gato spoke for Kelly, who was lying feebly on the table. "He's been running a fever since last night. It won't break. We got a rented room so he didn't have to sleep outside, but nothing helped."  
  
The doctor stuck a thermometer into Kelly's ear. "103. Not good. Could you take your shirt off, please?"  
  
Gato helped Kelly strip to the waist and the doctor checked the remains of his arm. "The good news is, it doesn't look infected. The bad news is that if it's a virus it'll be harder to treat. I'm going to draw some blood to see if there's an infection someplace else."  
  
The blood went off to the lab promptly. The doctor fed Kelly some analgesics. "You two are Jions?"  
  
Kelly and Anavel exchanged a look. "Yes, we are," Gato said finally.  
  
"I feel so sorry for you guys. I've been in Von Braun through the whole war and I've seen this town become a sea of dejected soldiers. A friend of mine runs a truck stop and says she gets a steady stream of green uniforms using the showers. I noticed you haven't sold your Academy ring yet, though."  
  
Kelly managed a weak smile. "Commander Gato will never do that."  
  
"Are you two managing to find food?"  
  
Gato nodded. "We go to the various shelters, the Scott mission, places like that."  
  
"Try the Friends' Kitchen on 54th and Green. It's run by the Quakers. You have to pay two credits each, but the food is good and nourishing, better than the shelter slop. More of it too. On Sunday the Cordon Bleu students volunteer their time."  
  
"We'll check it out."  
  
A nurse re-appeared with a clipboard. The doctor looked down at it.  
  
"As I thought. It's viral, not bacterial. That means I can't do anything with antibiotics. I'm afraid all I can do is give you analgesic samples and hope you can get enough fluids to break the fever."  
  
Gato took the packets of pills from the doctor. "Thank you. You've been very kind, very respectful of us."  
  
The doctor smiled. "I've always been a neutral Lunarian, but Sieg Jion, you two, and good luck."  
  
"What do we do now?" Kelly asked as Gato sat him down on a bus shelter bench.  
  
"I couldn't spend the day squeegeeing cars or begging, so I don't have any money. I'm guessing we have to huddle under the bridge tonight."  
  
Kelly nodded. "I'll be all right. I know you're worried."  
  
"This is not what I thought the end of the war would be like."  
  
"No. This isn't the end of the war. It's the end of the world."  
  
The Kennedy Bridge was getting the nickname of Jion Forces Base Kennedy. Crowds of former Jion soldiers made their makeshift homes there. Far from finding companionship there, Gato hated it and loathed every second he had to spend there. True, they tended to look out for each other and a loose chain of command even existed. If it weren't for the occasional fight between followers of Giren, Dozel, and Kishiria Zabi things would be completely tranquil. It was such a constant reminder of how terrible things had become for Jion Royalists that it broke Gato's heart.  
  
"Here you are, sir." The speaker was a Lieutenant (jg) who still wore his rank tabs on his ratty civilian clothes. He handed Gato a flattened refrigerator box. Gato lay it down and helped Kelly onto it.  
  
"Thank you, Lieutenant."  
  
"My pleasure, sir."  
  
"Lieutenant, can I trust you to watch Lt. Layzner while I try to secure some funds?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"I'm going to hold you to your word as a Jion officer."  
  
"Nothing's more sacred, sir."  
  
"All right, then."  
  
This was a lot of trust. The disabled Kelly now held both their dufflebags and thus all their earthly goods. Gato pulled on his overcoat and started up the enbankment.  
  
Gato took a place in front of a drug store, squared his shoulders, and took a deep breath.  
  
"Spare some change?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Thank you, have a good one. Spare some change?"  
  
"Get a job, dirty Jeek."  
  
"Bless you too, sir. Spare some change?"  
  
"Buy your own damn booze."  
  
"I don't drink!"  
  
"What do you need the money for, honey?" asked an older woman with short grey hair, dressed in jeans and a cotton shirt.  
  
"Gatorade. My buddy's got a fever and I have to bring it down."  
  
"Why don't I buy it for you?"  
  
"Thank you, ma'am. You are literally a lifesaver."  
  
As they exited the store again, the woman said, "You should come by the Friends' Kitchen when your friend is better. You look like you could use a good feeding."  
  
"This is the second time someone has referred us there. I assume this is Providence speaking. We'll do what you've suggested."  
  
"I'm Miriam," she told him. "And you are?"  
  
"Anavel."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Anavel. You better run along now."  
  
Gato came back to the bridge into the middle of a brawl. Kelly was hanging on to their duffles as the junior grade lieutenant did his best to fend off three men Gato didn't recognize. Gato hurled himself into the fray, tackled the biggest one, and began pounding him. With the odds improved, even Kelly was able to make use of the "bad human stick" he kept close by to drive off the intruders. Gato retrieved the bottles and handed them to Kelly. "We must find a better neighbourhood," he said. He, the junior lieutenant and Kelly settled in with their backs to a wall, ready to face night.  
  
The next day, Lt. Ceres (which was the name of the lieutenant jg) said, "I've decided I can't take this. I'm selling my Academy ring, getting a meal, and turning myself in to the Republican authorities. I was a nobody in the One Year War. De-Zabification classes have got to be better than this bullshit."  
  
"Lieutenant! Don't lose heart!"  
  
"Let him go, Gato," Kelly said. "We can't all be True Believers like you. I'm starting to crack a little myself." He took another swallow from the last bottle of Gatorade. "Run along now, son, and I don't mean that in a patronizing way. You have better things to do with your life than spend it under a bridge like a troll. Good luck, and don't forget about us."  
  
"I won't, sir." Lt. Ceres saluted, then picked up his small backpack and headed up the embankment, looking as if the world was on his shoulders.  
  
Gato sighed. "Another one falls. How are you feeling, Kelly?"  
  
"Exhausted, but a lot better. Hungry."  
  
"I think there's a place we should go."  
  
The Friends' Kitchen wasn't the shelter-style cafeteria they'd been expecting. Instead, the space had small square tables covered with plastic checked tablecloths. There was a sign to seat yourself. Miriam came over to them right away.  
  
"I see you boys found your way here." She looked at Kelly. "What happened to you?"  
  
"He's had a virus," Gato said as Kelly pointed to the stump of his arm and asked, "Have you seen one of these lying around?"  
  
"You probably haven't had any chance to work since yesterday, so you can just owe me. Laetura will be serving you."  
  
Laetura turned out to be a small, dark woman about eighteen years old. Nonetheless, there were lines under her eyes and she looked as if she'd survived about as much as the men she was serving. Gato sized her up quickly as a recovering drug addict or the like. He had no idea, then, why Kelly suddenly seemed so interested in her.  
  
"She seemed nice," Kelly said as they were walking back down the street.  
  
"She's a crack whore!" Gato exclaimed. "I was reading the literature on the background of that place. It's for people coming off the streets to learn skills, or to give jobs to recovering junkies. Since waitressing in a place which serves only two options a day is not exactly a SKILL..." Kelly glowered at him. "Gato, you have no idea how unattractive snobbery is."  
  
"I'm just looking out for your best interest, Kelly. Someday the Delaz fleet will find us again."  
  
"And Jesus will come back, and the Mosciach, and the Mahdi, and King Arthur too," Kelly groused. "I'll take what I can get."  
  
Kelly always had a better time begging than Gato because of his injury. Gato found a reputation as a consummate gentleman, and women often gave him a little money to walk them home safely. He received a few indecent offers because of his looks, but turned them down gently.  
  
Every evening found them at the Friends', where Laetura began slipping packets of spare food to Kelly.  
  
One day Gato met Kelly there. Kelly was obviously pleased with himself and said, "Laetura's been feeling nervous alone in her apartment lately. She's asked if we'd like to be her roommates."  
  
Gato looked blank. "I'm not sure..."  
  
"A permanent roof over our heads, Gato! Running water! Nobody trying to steal our belongings every night. How can we go wrong?"  
  
Gato nodded. "You're right. It's a good offer."  
  
"It's not a bad place. I've already been there for a shower."  
  
When Laetura met them after work she asked, "So Gato, what do you say to my offer?"  
  
Gato smiled. "It's very generous and we'd be fools to say no. Thank you very much. Lead on."  
  
Laetura's apartment was on the third floor of a tenement. Gato immediately began to wonder if the streets might not be as bad. The walls were cracked and there were mouse droppings everywhere.  
  
Then she opened the door. The main room consisted of a living room and kitchenette. To the right was a hall leading to the single bedroom and bathroom. She had a television, a colourful but worn carpet, and a pile of cushions on the floor as the only furniture. Gato surreptitiously ran a finger over the counter in the kitchenette as he went past and scanned the floor with his eyes.  
  
The place was immaculate. Laetura hung her purse on a hook that was obviously meant solely for the purpose and went into the living room. She dragged a rolled-up futon from the corner and untied it, kicking it flat.  
  
"I used to sleep on this until I could afford a bed," she told them. "It might be a little lumpy, though."  
  
"I'm sure it'll be more than acceptable," Gato said.  
  
Laetura spread some sheets and blankets on the futon. "There's clean towels under the bathroom sink," she informed them. "There's some food in the fridge if you get hungry. We'll talk about replacing it later. Goodnight."  
  
She left the room. Gato tossed the pillows to be side by side and said, "This'll be the best sleep I've ever had. Dibs on the shower."  
  
It took him a second to realize he was talking to an empty room. Laetura's bedroom door was closed and he could hear Kelly's voice from within. Gato smirked. Good for Kelly. After all he'd been through he deserved extra comfort. Gato wished he could have found someone classier than Laetura, but any port in a storm, he reasoned.  
  
The bathroom fixtures were worn, the tile and porcelain stained by age. Like the rest of the apartment, though, everything was scrupulously clean. He found the aforementioned clean towels, stripped, and stepped into the shower. Laetura also had plenty of soap and shampoo, so Gato spent a good half hour on his hair alone, washing it three times before he felt the grime of Von Braun rinse away thoroughly.  
  
Once his body was dry and his hair towelled until only damp, Gato slipped naked from the bathroom to his bed. The bedroom light was still on and he could hear murmurs and giggles from within. He turned off the living room light and curled up under the covers. All he could smell was the clean scent of laundry detergent, and it was a relief to be free of any whiff of himself. The futon was lumpy, but after two months of sleeping on concrete, it was like lying on a cloud. He rolled himself into a cocoon, purring with contentment.  
  
Animal contentment, he had to admit. Was this what it all came to? Gato raised his left hand and looked at the Academy ring still there. First in his class, saved from death by Admiral Delaz himself, now reduced to bliss over nothing more than a clean, dry bed. How could it have happened?  
  
No answer was forthcoming, so he fell asleep to the sounds of Kelly and Laetura making love.  
  
It was ten days later that they received a visitor.  
  
"It's for you," Laetura said, admitting the Jion officer. She kissed Kelly and headed off to work. Kelly and Gato didn't budge from their seats on the floor as the man came into the room.  
  
What a sight for sore eyes, thought Gato. A Jion officer who wasn't battered into complete hopelessness. Instead, he was dressed in the brown uniform of Kishiria's forces. He had no Academy ring, but that didn't matter.  
  
"I'm Captain Tetley," he said. "I'm stationed by what used to be JFB Granada. I've been looking for you two for quite some time."  
  
"We've been at no fixed address," Gato said.  
  
"So I've seen." Tetley looked around and settled down on a floor cushion across from them. "The Delaz fleet is ready to support you. Funds have finally come through to them and they promised to share them with you." He opened his briefcase and pulled out a pile of bills. "Lt. Layzner. Obviously you aren't in a condition to rejoin the fleet right now, but Admiral Delaz feels you should be given the retirement that you deserve. Here's 250,000 credits. Buy a house, put it in savings, do what you think you should with it."  
  
Kelly accepted the money. "Laetura and I have been talking about buying a scrapyard. There's a huge business here, and it's only getting bigger."  
  
"We have a mission for you, Commander Gato. It involves taking a job here in Von Braun, though."  
  
"Pilot?" asked Gato.  
  
"Mail room clerk."  
  
There was silence in the room. "What?" Gato exclaimed.  
  
"Anaheim Electronics here has bought out Zimmad and Jionic Companies. They've got a lot of new hotshot engineers straight out of school, and still in school in some cases, doing their doctoral work. We need to know what they're working on. The mail clerk is allowed everywhere and he has access to all correspondence, going in and coming out. For this mission we need a man who knows mobile suits, who looks and acts sincere, and who is likable. We thought about recruiting Char Aznable for the job because he used to wear that mask and because no one knew Jion mecha better than he does, but he has the social skills of a rhinoceros."  
  
Gato smirked. "I know Colonel Aznable. You're right."  
  
Tetley handed him some money, not nearly as much as he'd given Kelly. "Take this and go to a lower-end department store. Buy some dress pants, shirts, and ties. You've already been hired at Anaheim, so just show up for work on Monday. Here's the directions and who you need to see. I'll be checking in with you periodically to see what you're finding." Tetley got to his feet, not without some difficulty. Gato and Layzner did as well. "Gentlemen, we will see our country return to power and you will see your homes again. Sieg Jion."  
  
After he'd left, Gato looked down at the money. "I think I can scrimp enough on clothes to get us a couple of steaks," he said to Kelly.  
  
Kelly sighed. "I'll sleep with you if you buy me a steak."  
  
"Are you kidding? I don't even kiss on the first date. Come along, Skippy. Let's find where the lower middle class shops."  
  
###  
  
Nina Purpleton sipped at her coffee and made a face at the computer screen. The joint of the Gundam's arm would not support even the weight of the limb as presently constructed. So...  
  
"Niiii-na!" Nikoka squealed at her and grabbed her wrist. "He's delivering the mail again. You have GOT to see this guy. He's gorgeous!"  
  
Nina's sister employees were gathered around the doorway of their section, staring outward. The object of their attention was handing mail out to other areas.  
  
"For pete's sake, Nikoka, you're acting like a bunch of construction workers. Leave the poor mailboy alone."  
  
"You haven't seen him!" Nikola gasped. The engineers scampered back to their desks as he neared their doorway, then took surreptitious peeks as he walked by. There were some express delivery parcels for Nina so she was the one who had an excuse to look directly at him.  
  
Nikola was right. The new mailboy was thin in a way that made her think he had lost a lot of weight due to stress or sickness. He had a nice smile, pretty hazel eyes, and greying blond hair tied back in a ponytail. His hand brushed hers as he handed her the package and their eyes met. Her heart skipped a beat. Darn, she thought, he IS cute.  
  
There was nothing appropriate to say to him but, "Thanks."  
  
After he'd gone, leaving her with a lasting memory of a well-formed bum inside his slacks, Paula came over to her.  
  
"Isn't he a doll?"  
  
"He's cute all right," Nina agreed. "It'll be nice looking at him two times a day." With that, she returned to her work.  
  
Anavel Gato smiled as he walked away from that section. He'd already been into the box handed to Nina Purpleton. She was a few months from her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, quite a smart cookie. The box was components from Mr. Amuro Rey himself. Idiots! If they'd had any sense, they would be building new Gundams safely on Earth, not on neutral Luna where there was nothing to keep a Jion like himself from knowing all about it.  
  
"Interesting," said Captain Tetley as they had a stroll in a Von Braun park one night. Gato was wearing a pair of dark green dress pants and his service overcoat, now dry cleaned and mended. He almost felt his full dignity as an officer in His Majesty's armed forces returned to him. "I think it would be beneficial to us if you got to know Miss Purpleton better."  
  
"I'm in full agreement, sir."  
  
"This wouldn't have to do with the fact that she's very pretty, would it? We've taken surveillance photos, we know she's a dish."  
  
"If I'm to be dating the young lady, it doesn't hurt she's a sweet-faced young blonde."  
  
"You'll look good together. We'll arrange it. This is the plan..." 


	2. Chapter 2

Nina often worked late and always forgot how scary the park outside the Anaheim building could be. Von Braun wasn't as safe as Granada, which had been savagely cleaned up by Princess Kishiria's Royal Marines. Nina clutched her briefcase and started down the path. There was plenty of lighting, but it was just as easy for someone to be hiding in the bushes or behind trees. There had been rapes in the area. Driving wouldn't have been any safer as one still had to walk to a car. Once she was on the street by the bus stop, she'd be okay due to ample amounts of foot traffic.  
  
Twenty feet from the sidewalk, someone slammed into her. A hand covered her mouth as the arm around her neck hauled her into the bushes. Her attacker was wearing a black ski mask (did anyone buy those things to ski in really, or only to commit crimes?) and gloves. Nina swung backwards at his legs with the briefcase, scoring a few blows.  
  
"Cut that out and you won't be hurt!" Her eyes widened as the attacker held a hunting knife up to her face. "Just shut up and let it happen."  
  
Nina knew she couldn't fight her way out of this, she just didn't have the skill. The safety of the briefcase in her hand was the most important thing. She went limp and let herself be dragged back into the bushes. If he let go, she might be able to kick her shoes off and escape.  
  
Next thing she knew she was on her back with her attacker's knee on her chest. He still held the knife but was now lifting her skirt with the other hand. An awkward pose, but not yet one she wanted to risk. She was thinking about slugging him with the case again when suddenly another man crashed through the trees, swinging a fallen branch. It caught her assailant on the side of the head, knocking him down. The cute mailboy grabbed the man by the collar, raised one fist and roared at Nina, "RUN!"  
  
She did. A moment later the mailboy came up behind her, grabbing her hand and towing her behind him to the main thoroughfare and safety.  
  
"Are you all right, Miss?" He panted at her. "Do you want to call the police?"  
  
"Uh, I'm fine. Yes, I think I should." She opened up her cell phone and dialed 111. Police were dispatched. The handsome mailboy went with her to the station and stayed with her as she filed her report. Several hours later, the paperwork was done although Nina didn't think the police were going to be able to do anything beyond increase patrols. She looked at her rescuer and said, "Thanks for saving me. Can I buy you dinner?"  
  
Gato's stomach rumbled in response but he said, "Rescuing you was simply the right thing to do. You don't have to reward me at all. I'll see you home."  
  
They taxi'd and walked back to her apartment building, a secure one in an upscale part of town. At the door Nina said, "I didn't catch your name?"  
  
He smiled enigmatically. "I'm the mailboy." He took her hand and kissed it chivalrously, then turned on his heel and left.  
  
Nina watched him go and smiled to herself. Courageous, romantic, and adorable. She ought to follow up on this one.  
  
On the bus home, Anavel was also doing his share of smiling. That had gone as well as he'd planned. He just hoped that Sgt. Fredo wasn't going to be concussed by the knock he'd given him on the head with that tree branch.  
  
###  
  
"Your solution for the heat panels is very novel, but I'm not convinced it will work," Dr. Vane told Nina as she was in his office the next day. "Tell me why you came to the conclusion that it was the best way to handle the problem?"  
  
Nina heard her doctoral dissertation advisor perfectly well but was distracted by the memory of cool hazel eyes. "Rotating them gives them more surface area," she said.  
  
"While expending energy to do so. I think you should look into..." He leaned forward and waved his hand in front of her face. "Nina, are you there?"  
  
"Sorry, Dr. Vane."  
  
"Look, I didn't know if you'd be up to this meeting after what happened to you last night. We'll re-schedule for now."  
  
"That might be the best thing."  
  
When Nina returned to her office, she sat at her terminal and changed programs. The other engineers were being very quiet around her. It was true that she'd had a hard time sleeping the night before, and telling them what had happened had brought on a crying jag she hadn't expected, but she was traumatized, not dead. She decided that she'd take advantage of their keeping their distance for the moment, then ask them all to treat her normally again.  
  
She called up the company directory. If the mailboy, who had come and gone while she was meeting with her advisor, wouldn't give her his name, the directory would. She looked under "mailroom" and found the supervisor and four clerks. Only one worked her part of the complex and his name was Anavel Gato.  
  
Nina sat back in her chair. Anavel Gato was the name of a famous Jion pilot during the One Year War. He was known for his gentlemanly behaviour in battle as well as his high kill rate.  
  
She changed programs and called up the list of Jion Military Wanted For War Crimes. Giren Zabi, deceased. Kishiria Zabi, deceased. Captain Shin Asakura, Lt. Colonel Cima Garahau, at large. Garma Zabi, deceased. She kept reading to the end. Anavel Gato's name was not on the list.  
  
She switched to a search engine and entered his name. The first web site to come up was an old but still active ".gov.jion" URL for Heroes of the War for Independence. Probably run off a pirate server somewhere, she reflected. She clicked on the link for "Anavel Gato" and was rewarded by a photo of the Anaheim mail clerk in a green uniform, smiling a little "screw you" smile at the camera with a Dom in the background.  
  
"I have you now, my pretty," she murmured, and called up the word processor to write a note. The note went into an inter-office envelope that she handed to him when he came through that afternoon. By quitting time Gato had not responded though, and Nina went home miffed.  
  
One of the mail clerk's jobs was to run the shredder, and the task was much slowed down when Gato had to stop, read, and photograph what he was throwing in.  
  
"Projects Physalis and Zephyranthes," Gato told Tetley. "What goes into my shredder isn't the really hot stuff. I'll have to get that out of Nina herself."  
  
They examined the images from Gato's digital camera on Tetley's laptop. The two of them were sitting in Laetura's apartment on a Saturday morning since she and Kelly had gone out to look at houses.  
  
"The armour on this Physalis Gundam. It's heavy to a bizaare extent."  
  
"It is. That worries me. What enemy are they planning to face who would require them to shield their mobile suit like that? She's received components from none other than Amuro Rey as well, and that worries me even more."  
  
"How likely is it that you'll be able to get information out of Nina Purpleton? Did the staged mugging work?"  
  
"A little too well. I just wanted her to begin to trust me and develop the trust from there. Instead, I got this."  
  
He handed Tetley the note Nina had handed him in the inter-office mail. Tetley read it out loud.  
  
"I know who you are and I owe you for what you did. Dinner?" Tetley handed it back. "Weird, but I encourage you to do it. Just remember that you're working whenever you're with her."  
  
"I don't think that will be difficult, sir."  
  
###  
  
"So, should I consider you my stalker?" Gato asked Nina from across the table. They were sitting in a resto-bar that was non-descript but full of professionals with more money in his pocket than he had.  
  
"No. I'm just a really grateful woman who wanted to know who her knight in shining armour was. I nosed around and found out who you were and what you'd done in the war in no time flat. If you want to be anonymous, you've done a very bad job of it."  
  
"I'm being low-profile but I have nothing to hide. The police raised an eyebrow and did a search when I gave my statement the other night but they couldn't find anything and I walked out a free man."  
  
"My gosh. You put yourself at risk of arrest for me?"  
  
"I had to."  
  
"I see." She sat back as the waitress dropped off mozzarella sticks. Nina dipped one and asked, "What the heck are you doing here, being drooled over by a bunch of dippy girl engineers?"  
  
"What else could I be doing?"  
  
"You could be on Axis. You could go home."  
  
"To the so-called Republic of Jion? No, I don't think so."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I'm a royalist. As soon as I set foot back there I'd be imprisoned for an indefinite amount of time, just for being who I am. Then when they decided I was a good boy and not likely to cause trouble, I'd be freed but sent to mandatory anti-Zabi classes until the breaking of my spirit was complete." He nibbled an appetizer. "I believe in my heart that Mineba Zabi, daughter of my former commander Dozel, is the legitimate head of state and that she should be placed on her grandfather's throne in Zum City immediately."  
  
"Wow," said Nina.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The level of passion you feel about this. For a lot of people, it would be only politics."  
  
"You're right. For me it is more than politics. Are the machines you work on just big tanks on feet?"  
  
"Touche'. They're like my children to me." She leaned forward. "We have a number of captured Zakus and other suits. I've been in the cockpits to study them, but tell me what it's like. You don't have to tell me about Solomon, or A Bao A Qu because I know those stories must be painful. Just describe to me what it's like to have one of those magnificent pieces of machinery around you."  
  
That was something Gato was happy to talk about. Nina was well aware of the mechanics of a Zaku II and a Dom, but the experience of flying one was quite different. He ordered another beer and began to tell her. She rested her chin on her hand and listened without saying a word.  
  
This time, Gato did go up with Nina into her apartment. While the building was a luxury high-rise, the apartment itself was less agreeable than Laetura's. At least she had clearly defined rooms whereas this was just a glorified studio. One open space held Nina's bed and books at one end of the rectangle and a living section at the other. It was all very comfortable, but Nina clearly lacked Laetura's imaginination when it came to working with very little. Gato half expected a poster of the RX-78 to be given pride of place over her bed, and was happy to see that there wasn't.  
  
She made coffee and they sat down on the couch. Seeing it as his turn to ask the questions, Gato started. "So what made you so interested in mobile suits?"  
  
Nina tucked one foot under her knee and sipped from her mug. "I've always been into machines. If something broke around the house, I fixed it. When other little girls were playing with dolls, I was building models. When they were fascinated by horses, I was wrenching on cars. I didn't go to my senior prom, I was rebuilding an engine." She said this last as if it were the crowning achievement of high school. "After high school I started working on Ball units. Then there was the Riah rebellion and for the first time I saw Zakus and they were...magnificent." Her eyes became distant at the memory.  
  
"Yes. I remember my first sight of them too. I thought that Jion would certainly conquer when I realized how far ahead we were from the Federation, but I turned out to be wrong."  
  
"I almost moved to Granada, to where the plant was. I sent in my resume' and no less than General Kishiria responded, saying that she thought I might make a valuable addition to the R&D department. My parents wouldn't let me go, though. They said I had to finish school."  
  
"That's certainly our loss," Gato sighed.  
  
"I guess it was. Next thing I know, there's this new mobile suit coming out of the Federation called the Gundam. Did you ever face the Gundam, Anavel?"  
  
"No. If I had, I would have destroyed it."  
  
"A lot of pilots tried."  
  
"Yes, but none of them were ME."  
  
Nina let it slide. "Anyway, after the war, Anaheim Electronics of Irvine bought out Jionic and Zimmad, along with all their intellectual properties. They hired me, and here I am." Her expression was smug. "How did you get hired to Anaheim?"  
  
"I applied. There isn't much work here in Von Braun, so I took what I could get."  
  
"You must be awfully bored."  
  
He nodded. "You have no idea. Plus I'm living in a one-bedroom apartment with a pal and his new ladyfriend in a rotten part of town. I've fallen a few rungs on the ladder of life I must say."  
  
"At least you're alive and well," Nina told him.  
  
"There is that," Gato said, thinking of the maimed Kelly. "I lost a lot of friends out there."  
  
Nina raised a hand to his shoulder. "If there's anything I can do..."  
  
He shook his head. "Not unless you can reverse time, develop a personal force shield for Giren Zabi, or arrange for the Lady Kishiria to have a tragic accident."  
  
Nina tipped her head to the side. "The tragic accident might take some doing. I imagine a Zabi princess has pretty good security."  
  
Gato laughed. Nina was smiling up at him, clearly glad to see him laughing for a change. He pulled her gently into his arms and kissed her.  
  
To his surprise, Nina froze for a moment before slipping her arms around him and responding. Gato, you idiot, he told himself, the woman was just the target of an assault, staged or not. Of course she's nervous. You should know better; this is why you' got this mission and not Aznable.  
  
He broke the kiss and sat back. Nina blinked at him, breathing a little heavily. At that moment he saw something that stirred his blood in quite a different way.  
  
On the desk near the bed sat a laptop. Nina's briefcase sat on the floor nearby. As he stared at them, Nina reached up and turned his face towards hers again.  
  
He couldn't get into the kiss now. Pretty and entertaining as Nina was, the cache of Gundam secrets was too much of a distraction. Now she was the one to end the kiss and say, "Something's wrong."  
  
Gato had to think of something quickly. "I'm just feeling a little depressed. I shouldn't have talked about how much I've lost. You're right; I came out of the war in good health and I have a job and perhaps even a future here. Still..."  
  
"This is too much for your survivor's guilt."  
  
"Yes. No! I didn't mean it that way."  
  
"I understand." She turned back to him and raised a hand to his cheek. "I'll see you at work on Monday."  
  
Gato waited until he was safely in the elevator of Nina's building before proceding to bang his head against the wall.  
  
Kelly was sitting alone in the living room, watching a documentary on humourous homemade robots. Anavel changed into shorts and a t-shirt in the bathroom and came back out.  
  
"There's a couple of beers for you in the fridge," Kelly said. "Laetura doesn't like alcohol in the house, so I bought them at the service station after she went to bed."  
  
Gato took a bottle out. "Snyder's Royal Premium. They're selling this here?"  
  
"Yeah. I guess somebody noticed a niche market for displaced Jions who might want to get drunk on their own native poison. There's a bottle opener nailed to the side of the counter under the microwave. I got bottles because I can't open cans by myself."  
  
Gato twisted open the bottle and got the second one for Kelly. They tapped the bottles together and Gato took a swallow. "Ugh! This stuff is still as foul as ever."  
  
"Missed it, though."  
  
"Oh yes. It makes me think back to how Admiral Dozel used to import cases of this nasty stuff for his troops on holidays."  
  
Kelly peered at Gato. "Surprised to see you back here tonight."  
  
"Issues to the left of me. Baggage to the right of me. Into the valley of neurosis rode the five hundred. And I'm not so sure I'm describing her. Things got weird at one point and I told her it was because I'd been reminded of how much I'd lost during the war. Thing is, it was pretty much the truth."  
  
"You missed a great opportunity to pump her for information, if you catch my drift."  
  
"I do, and forget it. I can't do that to Nina. Besides, ending the date was her idea. I think she's been hurt."  
  
"She's going to be a lot more hurt when she finds out you're a spy for Delaz."  
  
"True. Maybe she won't have to know." Gato leaned back and nursed his beer.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure. Just like I'll forget what it's like to be a pilot, you will too." Kelly glowered at his friend. "You're the Nightmare of Solomon, Gato. If you don't get back into space eventually, you'll go nuts. I know I would, except I don't really have a choice. That's why I'm trying to set up this new life with Laetura." He gazed down at his beer sadly and Gato suddenly found the documentary very interesting.  
  
At work, Nina continued to treat him as she had been for the past few weeks; businesslike but not in any way cold. Two Fridays later, Nina sent a note down to him at the mailroom.  
  
I have a surprise. Meet me in my office at six.  
  
He did as he was told. Nina was there in slacks and a shirt, grinning at him.  
  
"I have something for you."  
  
Twenty minutes later, Gato was staring around himself, open-mouthed. "Nina, this is a mobile suit hangar."  
  
"Points to the boy for being observant! This is where we keep the machines from the One Year War that we're studying." She pointed at the suits in question. "Two Zakus and a Gouf. We've got parts of a Dom too."  
  
"Nina, this is like dangling a steak in front of a starving man."  
  
She took his arm. "I'm about to give you the steak. Reg up in the tower owes me a huge favour. Zaku Unit 1 was already taken out today and Reg has cleared me to have it taken out again."  
  
"I don't think I want to know how you arranged this."  
  
"I wouldn't tell you. It's between me and Reg, who I caught being very naughty." She waved up at a nervous-looking man in the tower. "We only have a couple of hours, so get suited up and let's go."  
  
Getting into a normal suit came as easily to Gato as putting on his briefs in the morning. He was in the pilot's seat with Nina in the jump seat beside him in no time. When the doors were opened and the order given from Reg, the Zaku strode forward from the hangar with a Jion pilot inside for the first time since it had been captured.  
  
"I've never piloted in this sort of lunar gravity," Gato confessed. "Zero gee or colony gravity, but this feels strange."  
  
"Try jumping. You can almost fly in it."  
  
The controls for the mobile suit fit into his hands as if they were the hands of his spouse of 60 years. He'd heard of telepathically controlled mobile suits, but when he was behind the controls of a Zaku they sounded ludicrously redundant. He sent the Zaku jetting forward, flying lightly and swiftly over the lunar surface. This gave him an idea.  
  
"Sit back, Nina. We're going on a field trip."  
  
"It can't be too long, Anavel."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll have us all back safe."  
  
Nina watched his face as he controlled the Zaku. While the Anaheim mail clerk went about his office duties with grace and dignity, it was magnified to an incalculable degree when he piloted. Gato's expression was intense, yet serene. This is what he'd been born to do. Yet seeing him in an unarmed mobile suit, merely taking her on a joyride, was still sad to her, as if she were giving him merely a taste of freedom while still on a long chain.  
  
"There," he told her softly, and pointed out at the viewscreen.  
  
Nina undid her seatbelt and floated up to be beside him. She followed where he was pointing and saw two slowly rotating cylinders in the magnified view from the Zaku's cameras.  
  
"Is that Side 3?"  
  
"Yes," he whispered, lowering his head. "Home. It's 1600 over there. My mother is probably having her tea. That's just one of her quirks. My father went back into active military duty during the war. In January of this year he was alive and back home, but I don't know any more than that. Even if he's sworn loyalty to the new Republic of Jion, that'd be all right. I just want both of them to be well."  
  
Nina looked down at him and realized he was crying. Not over having lost the war, not over his monarch being driven into exile, but over the fact that unless he sacrificed his own freedom, his own principles and all the things that made him who he was, he could never go home.  
  
That, she reflected, was a choice no person should have to make.  
  
"If you need a friend, you know where to find me," she said.  
  
"Nina, you've been the best thing to happen to me since I arrived in this place," Gato told her.  
  
Nina undid the seals of her helmet and let it float upward to the ceiling of the cockpit. She undid his and gathered him into her arms. She kissed him deeply, tasting the salt of his tears on his lips, wanting nothing more than to ease his pain. Gato's arms tightened around her in a silent plea to stay with him.  
  
On his part, all Gato could feel was grateful, yet he had only one thing to offer her in return for this moment. When they'd returned the Zaku to Anaheim and gone back to Nina's apartment, he thanked her wordlessly in the darkness where his expression of gratitutde was joyfully accepted.  
  
The briefcase sat forgotten in the corner all the while. 


	3. Chapter 3

Kelly and Laetura were having breakfast when Gato returned home. Before he could say anything, Kelly said, "Where were you all night, young man?"  
  
Gato frowned. "How do you know I'm not coming home from an early morning walk?"  
  
Laetura picked up Kelly's empty dish and walked it to the sink. "Same clothes from the day before. You haven't shaved today either, and you always shave."  
  
"Nothing gets past you." He went over to the milk crates he used as a dresser and started pulling out clean clothes. "Where's my backpack?"  
  
"In the hall closet," Laetura told him.  
  
"How was Nina?" Kelly asked.  
  
Laetura handed Gato his empty backpack. "I sense a man to man talk coming. I'll go to the store for more cereal." She picked up her purse and left.  
  
"So much for waiting for Mrs. Anavel Gato," Kelly told him.  
  
"Duty called."  
  
"Looks like you're going back for more."  
  
Gato nodded. "I said I'd spend the rest of the weekend with her. I'll be back Monday night. I need some clean clothes, a new toothbrush, that kind of thing."  
  
"You feel like James Bond?" Kelly asked with a grin.  
  
Gato didn't smile back. "I feel like a right bastard."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Gato sat down beside Kelly. "She's grating. She's moody. She's high- maintenance and clingy. She panicked this morning when she found I wasn't still in bed because I was up making her breakfast. On the surface, Nina's not the sort of woman I'd choose as my lover in a million years. There could be other ways to get at her secrets."  
  
"So what changed your mind?"  
  
Gato's expression softened. "She arranged for me to take out a Zaku."  
  
"What? You're kidding."  
  
"No. Last night, we went out for a ride. I couldn't believe it. It almost made me feel human again."  
  
"Like a whole person," Kelly mumbled.  
  
"Exactly. Like a--" Gato cut himself off. "Forgive me, my friend. That was insensitive of me."  
  
"It's all right. I'm doing fine."  
  
"Despite all her shortcomings, Nina's just given me the gift of dignity which I've missed these past few months. Otherwise I'd have just kept stringing her along with dinner and little presents until the time when I could conveniently dope her and get into her briefcase. But now, this is serious. To complete my mission, I'm going to have to be a cad."  
  
"You know, I always looked forward to the day you'd come home with JBF hair and I'd be able to give you hell over it. Gato, your sense of honour has ruined even that. Good thing I never took you to a whorehouse; you'd insist on writing thank you notes and sending flowers the next day."  
  
"Probably. That's how I was raised, and it'd be a better world if we all functioned that way, thank you."  
  
There was one last thing to do. Gato met Tetley in a park a mile or so from Anaheim. Tetley looked up from feeding the ducks and said, "You're late."  
  
"I know, but you won't mind the reason," Gato said. "I have entry to Nina Purpleton's apartment now."  
  
"Really? Excellent. Is this just a one time thing, or likely to go on for a while?"  
  
"I'm on my way back there now."  
  
Tetley took some money out of his pocket. "Take her out to dinner."  
  
Nina met him at the door of her apartment. She was dressed again and flung her arms around his neck. "You're back. I was starting to worry, after what you told me your neighbourhood was like."  
  
"I forgot that I had some laundry to do."  
  
Nina grinned. "Handsome, smart, polite, and tidy too! You are a keeper, aren't you?"  
  
Nina awakened late Sunday night to the sound of Anavel whimpering in his sleep. He was turned on his side away from her, tossing his head against the pillow. Nina sat up and lay a careful hand on his shoulder. "Anavel," she said softly. "Anavel?"  
  
On the third repetition of his name he came to. "Where am I?"  
  
"You're in my apartment. You're safe."  
  
Gato rolled onto his back and brushed his loosened hair from his forehead. He reached for Nina and pulled her against his chest.  
  
"Were you dreaming about the war?" she asked.  
  
"Kind of. It was just a nightmare, you know they never make sense." His arms tightened around her and Nina squeezed back comfortingly. She knew he wasn't telling her the truth, but reasoned that if he wanted to tell her about his dream, he would.  
  
Nina was correct. Gato figured she didn't need to know the details, that he'd been commanding a ship where the crew were all missing body parts. There had been no blood, and the soldiers seemed completely at ease despite going without arms, legs, and in some cases even heads. He was wondering what had brought him to such a macabre command when he'd looked down and noticed that somewhere along the line, he'd lost both his legs.  
  
He lay awake for most of the night, listening to Nina's soft breathing and occasional little snore until he drowsed off again near dawn.  
  
As they were getting ready for work, Nina said, "You know, I don't think we should tell anybody about us."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Anaheim's got some really old-fashioned attitudes about their employees' personal lives. I know we don't really work together, but it's probably better if we don't let on that...that..."  
  
"We've become lovers," Gato said, finishing the thought for her.  
  
"Yeah. Exactly."  
  
"I agree. If only because I don't think I could handle all the giggles from your co-workers every time I came in to deliver the mail."  
  
She laughed. "That would be pretty bad, wouldn't it? Okay. It's our secret."  
  
"Our secret." They linked little fingers and kissed to close the deal.  
  
"You look unusually mellow today," Gato's supervisor commented when he came in.  
  
Gato started investigating Nina's personal library the next Saturday while she was in the shower. She kept professional journals and composition books filled with notes on the shelves. In a recent journal he found passages underlined about making armour lightweight but resistant against radiation. Paragraphs were marked with exclamation points and comments such as, "Suggest to Dr. Vane". He tucked two of them into his backpack just as he heard the water stop running and returned them to the shelves the next weekend. If Nina noticed, she never said anything.  
  
"Nuclear resistant armour. Advances on the vernians," Tetley recited to himself as he and Gato walked in the park. "Have you found anything yet on the armaments these Gundams will carry?"  
  
"No. That's a different Research and Development section altogether. If only we knew the reason they needed all this protection against radiation."  
  
"To make them immune against being hit in the reactor?"  
  
"Then why have it all on the suit's limbs, and that heavy?" Gato crossed his arms. "If only I had a reason to be alone in her apartment. I must get into her laptop. I'll have to see if I can talk her into giving me a key."  
  
Tetley patted him on the shoulder. "Do your best."  
  
Later that week, another canvas trolley of paper was rolled over to Gato's shredder. Recently the well had run dry as far as anything new came along and it was getting harder and harder to hold his concentration as he shuffled through pounds and pounds of paper before loading it into the shredder. He took a few mouthfuls of coffee to stay alert, fastened his hair back more securely, and turned the machine on.  
  
Junk, junk, junk, junk. Hm, Paula's birthday was coming up. Crap, that meant he'd have to go with Nina to buy her a present. Junk, junk, junk--  
  
"Hello, what's this?" he murmured to himself as he pulled out a computer- generated sketch. Gato glanced around quickly then studied the image. On normal letter-sized paper, it was a line drawing of the Physalis. On it was written the note: "Yes, it's only going to be 83 tons. This is not a joke. NP."  
  
In another hand was an arrow pointing to the arms with a note back saying, "Not with a cooling system like this it's not. Back to the drawing board with you. Dr. Vane."  
  
Gato folded the sheet quickly and slipped it into his pocket. It must have been a mistake that the sketch got as far as the mailroom because nothing else like it materialized.  
  
When Gato came home that night, Laetura and Kelly were waiting for him with a bottle of sparkling non-alcoholic cider. Laetura popped it as soon as he came in.  
  
"Um, what's the occasion?"  
  
Kelly took the bottle from her and poured. "Tetley was over. For the rest of my pension, they went ahead and bought us a scrapyard."  
  
"It's got a house on it!" Laetura exclaimed in delight. "I can have a garden, and there's space for a baby's room and everything."  
  
Gato caught the look of fear that appeared in Kelly's eyes but said nothing. Obviously the two were going to have to discuss a few things. "When are we moving?"  
  
"Laetura and I will move in a couple of weeks, after we close. You move as soon as you can find yourself a place."  
  
"Find myself a place?"  
  
"You've got a job," Kelly reminded him.  
  
"There's a 0.4 vacancy rate, Kelly, and my income is a joke!"  
  
"Look, I wish we could do something else, but Laetura and I have decided to get married, and it'd just be too weird to have you still living with us. Plus it's out of commuting range from Anaheim."  
  
Gato sipped at his cider and winced. It tasted sulphuric. "So when's the wedding?"  
  
"We'll do that before we move in," Laetura said. "Bring along your girlfriend. We want to meet her, and this way she'll see us as we're starting off on a new life together." She took Kelly's hand and smiled up at him.  
  
The next day, Gato wrote a note and slid it into an inter-office envelope. He delivered it to Nina along with the rest of her mail. When he came through that afternoon with the second delivery, she handed it back to him.  
  
Neither of them noticed Lucette, who had caught Gato's handwriting over Nina's shoulder.  
  
Gato appeared at Nina's door that evening. They sat down on the couch and she asked, "Why are your roommates kicking you out?"  
  
"They're getting married and they bought themselves a house."  
  
"That's a good reason."  
  
"What am I going to do?"  
  
"Why don't you live with me?"  
  
Gato looked down at her, seeing Tetley's behind-the-scenes manoevers slide neatly into place. "You mean that?"  
  
"Why not? You spend three nights a week here. You keep your clothes and a spare toothbrush here. It wouldn't be that much of a change." Nina linked arms with him. "Anavel, you shouldn't have worried. I would never let you go back to the street. I couldn't ever do that because I love you."  
  
He gazed down incoherently. "You do?"  
  
"Yes!" She hugged him tightly. "You're the first man ever to really understand why mobile suits are my passion. The guys I've dated before just thought it was a funny thing for a girl to be doing and kept me around for my looks. When they realized I was more than just a cute blonde with a knack for machinery, it was over. I don't have to worry about that with you. Plus, you've trusted me with your secrets. Of course I love you."  
  
"Oh." Gato struggled with what to say next. "Nina. You're so good to me."  
  
"I don't imagine you have much."  
  
"No, I don't."  
  
She smiled and squeezed his arm with both of hers. "Well why don't you go get it? I'll spring for a taxi for you to bring it all back over here. No use staying where you're not wanted!"  
  
It was early evening. Laetura was still at work and Kelly was gone too. Gato hung up his jacket and went into the closet for the dufflebag he'd been carrying when they first moved to Laetura's.  
  
It wasn't quite empty. Since he was alone, he decided to allow himself one private moment with his past.  
  
In the bottom of the bag was a flat plastic box. He brought it out and opened it up. Neatly folded inside was his dark green uniform with the tunic on top. The epaulets were tucked into plastic bags of their own at the corners, the belt at the bottom. He reached in and stroked the crisp gabardine of the tunic, the velvet of the cape and panels with their heavy gold embroidery. He remembered the day he'd first put on one of these uniforms as a green ensign straight out of the Academy. That had been 21 years of ambition and dreams achieved.  
  
He lifted the tunic out of the box and held it folded on his lap. At least he had his. Kelly's uniform was lost. After being pulled mangled and bleeding from his wounded mobile suit he'd never had the chance to retrieve it. Gato's habit was to always carry a spare uniform with him, allowing one to survive the destruction of the Doroa and the taking of A Bao A Qu.  
  
The door opened and Gato jumped. It was Kelly, who looked at the uniform in Gato's hands and said, "Sorry, I didn't realize you needed some privacy. I thought you were just jacking off or something."  
  
"I might as well be." Gato put the tunic back in its box. "I take that back. If I were fapping, it would have the useful side effect of leaving me relaxed." He clicked the lid shut.  
  
Kelly lifted a corner of the rug and picked up a loose floorboard. He pulled out a bottle of bourbon and held it between his knees to uncap it. He held it out to Gato. "You look like you need this. What's going on?"  
  
"Nina's come to my rescue by offering to let me live with her."  
  
"Y'know, most guys would be happy about that." Kelly raised a hand before Gato could say a word. "I know, I know. You feel like you're taking advantage of her so you can get mobile suit secrets. Well, you're not. Here's what you do. You move in, you bring her flowers every week, you do your share of the housework-very important-and you bang her every night. What more could she ask for?"  
  
"Honesty," Gato said.  
  
Kelly grinned. "She really has gotten to you, hasn't she? Think of it this way, pal. Don't you want Nina to live in a world ruled by Jion? Wouldn't she be better off? You said she lives in a crappy one-room apartment. Back home she'd be given a house, paid more, treated like the genius she is. You're not betraying her, Gato, you're getting her recognition."  
  
Gato considered this for a moment, then smiled. "Of course, Kelly. I hadn't thought of it that way. She is treated shabbily by Anaheim."  
  
"Damn straight she is. So go back in there, tiger, and find out what's going on in that woman's scary little brain."  
  
"Why do you say her brain is scary?"  
  
"Cause she's a woman."  
  
"Then, what are our brains?"  
  
Kelly smiled. "Too slow to be afraid."  
  
Gato opened the door to find Nina standing by a table set for two. She was lighting some candles. "I called for delivery food," she explained. "I wanted your first night home to be special. You can go put away your clothes in the meantime."  
  
He went over to the sleeping area. They had long ago moved the bed so that they could both get out of it easily. He sat on his side of the bed to unzip his duffle and looked up.  
  
On the wall facing him, she'd hung a Jion flag. Gato blinked at it as a tangled mire of emotion filled his heart. Nina sat down on the bed beside him.  
  
"I didn't know how you'd feel about that. If you're offended, you can take it down."  
  
"No. I'm feeling many things on seeing my country's flag, but offended is most definitely not one of them. It's a very welcoming gesture indeed." He put his arms around Nina and kissed her.  
  
###  
  
Kelly's and Laetura's wedding was a quiet affair in a registry office with only Gato and Nina as witnesses. Gato and Kelly had spent Kelly's last night as a free man camping in the empty apartment as Laetura put the finishing touches on the house. The party for a few friends was thus both a housewarming and a wedding party.  
  
Nina admired Laetura's creativity. "Wow," she said, "You've done a lot in here with..."  
  
"Go ahead and say it," Laetura said. "With next to nothing. And I'm real proud of that. Just over a year ago, I was a junkie on welfare. Now I own a house and do the books for my husband's business. And not just any old joe, I landed me a dang Jion officer! Whoohoo!" She held up her soft drink in a toast to herself.  
  
"You've got a lot to be proud of," Miriam said. To Nina she explained, "Laetura waitressed for pay at the Kitchen, but between meals, she was learning book-keeping. She's very good at it, too."  
  
"I think we'll do fine," Laetura said. "Maybe not rich, but that's okay. Kelly's already been fiddling with some stuff this creepy woman brought by for him to fix."  
  
"Creepy how?" Nina asked.  
  
Laetura frowned. "Hard to say. Real tall, long black hair, Jion accent. There was something wrong about her though. Like I said, creepy. But she gave him money up front. Still," Laetura shook her head, "I hope nothing happens about that. It felt like trouble."  
  
Nina laughed. "Jions are always trouble. They show up in our lives and next thing we know, they're sleeping beside us."  
  
Laetura snorted. "I don't want this one sleeping beside me! All I want is Kelly, and he just swore to want me, and only me. So there."  
  
"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god," swore Kelly into his one remaining hand. He pulled it away from his face and stared in terror at his wedding ring. "Gato, what did I just do?"  
  
Gato was leaning against the wall of the warehouse, arms crossed, glowering at his friend. "Looked to me like you got married."  
  
"Aargh. Why did I do that?"  
  
Gato glared. "I was under the impression that you loved the woman."  
  
"I do. This is just so...final."  
  
"You're being stupid. I know I didn't approve of Laetura at first. I've changed my opinion of her because I've seen how devoted she is to you. When she looks at you, she doesn't see a crippled Jion soldier. She sees what I see, a proud officer who was honourably wounded while courageously fighting for our freedom. There's nothing wrong with being retired and starting a new life with a good woman."  
  
"No, there isn't. Except another possibility just came up." Kelly walked over to a cloth-draped object the size of two large cars and pulled the cloth away. Gato gasped.  
  
"That's a cockpit!"  
  
"Yes. It's for a mobile armour. I've been given the money to start repairing it, for the war effort."  
  
"For the Delaz fleet?"  
  
Kelly nodded.  
  
"Tetley brought this by?"  
  
"No, I didn't," Tetley's voice said from the doorway. Gato and Kelly both jumped. Tetley was dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a shopping bag. "Cima Garahau did. I'm not Delaz's only subordinate, you know."  
  
"Cima Garahau?" Gato said. "The Butcher of Iffish?"  
  
"Yes, well Delaz doesn't see it that way," said Tetley. "I've worked with her myself and I will confess that I don't either. Lt. Layzner, congratulations on your marriage. I brought by some gifts for the new house. I hope your bride doesn't already have a food processor?"  
  
"She doesn't, and she'll be thrilled," Kelly said. "We should all go inside."  
  
"Not yet," Tetley said, closing the door of the warehouse. "Lt. Gato, now that you're living with Nina Purpleton, do you think you can convince her to go somewhere without you? To visit family, friends, a trip with girlfriends?"  
  
"I don't know. Probably."  
  
"When you do, let me know. This is my pager number." He handed Gato a card with it. "Don't call me for any other reason. I'll send a computer cracker over and you, he, and Layzner can make a day of getting to the bottom of this Physalis mystery."  
  
Gato nodded. "It'll be my pleasure."  
  
"Now let's get inside or your ladies will get suspicious." Tetley slid the door back open and they returned to the house.  
  
###  
  
"Whenever I go to a wedding, I always wish I had a magic crystal ball to see how it all ends," Nina said when she and Gato had returned home. "Kelly and Laetura are kind of a weird couple, but I like them. They're both really strong people. They've come through a lot. I admire that."  
  
Gato pulled off his tie and hung it up neatly. He heard Nina turn on the radio and go into the bathroom. He changed from his dress clothes into a t- shirt and jeans and sat down on the bed, waiting for her to emerge. Nina came out wearing a worn cotton dress she liked. She sat down across Gato's lap and hugged him.  
  
"Do you think we could be that happy together someday?" she asked.  
  
Not wanting to lie, Gato told her, "We can hope, can't we?"  
  
"I know I do," Nina said.  
  
The song changed and Gato helped Nina off his lap. She started to protest, but stopped when he took her into his arms and started slow-dancing with her.  
  
"You mean you like this kind of song?" she asked.  
  
"Hush," Gato told her.  
  
Don't come to me, just cause you're lonely tonight/Lonely's only part of your game/Long as you live, you must remember one thing/Give and take are one and the same  
  
So tell me are you ready, really, really ready/Cause I don't want your love for one night.  
  
Nina raised her eyes to Gato's. He was smiling at her gently.  
  
Cause I'm not looking for a love affair/I need the magic when I hold you near/It's more important than a one night stand/I need the magic when I touch your hand.*  
  
Nina reached up and undid his hair. It fell forward and covered both their faces as they kissed. Gato followed that with little nibbles on her cheek and ear which made Nina giggle softly until he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed.  
  
One very pleasant hour later, Nina was cuddling Gato's head against her chest as he lay in a comfortable half-doze. "I think my parents would like you," she commented.  
  
Gato was about to tell her not to mention parents in bed, but then thought better of it. He propped himself on one elbow and asked, "How long has it been since you saw them? They don't live around here, do they?"  
  
Nina grunted. "Have you been talking to my mother when I'm not around? They live in New Amsterdam. I haven't seen them since Christmas of 0078. I'd have have gone home for Christmas in 0079 except for the war."  
  
"You should visit them."  
  
"Will you come with me?"  
  
He was quiet. "Do they know about me yet?"  
  
"I've said I've started dating, but I haven't told them you live with me. They're very protective."  
  
Gato blinked at her, alarmed. "You haven't told them my name, have you?"  
  
"No. I know you're not hiding exactly, but that you want to keep a low profile. But Anavel, I'm going to have to tell some of the girls at work soon. Before you came along, we used to get together for drinks and movies at each others' apartments. They're commenting on what a hermit I've become."  
  
"You should go out, then. I've got Kelly and some of the other guys as company."  
  
"And telling my friends?"  
  
Gato thought about it. "Tell the truth, that it's someone at Anaheim and you can't let them know because we're both afraid for our jobs."  
  
She nodded. "All right." When Gato nestled into the curve of her arm again, Nina continued. "You really miss your folks, don't you?"  
  
"I do, terribly. I want to send them a letter, but I can't imagine how to do it. I'm sure their mail is read. The only thing I can think of is seeing if anyone is going to Side 3 who could hand-carry it. They live in Zum City."  
  
"You want me to go see my parents because you can't see yours, don't you?"  
  
"That's part of it, yes. The other is that I just put a very high value on family and don't like watching them grow apart."  
  
"Then I'll go visit. I'll see if I can have next Friday off and leave Thursday night. Will you be all right without me?"  
  
"I think I'll manage."  
  
Tetley sent the computer cracker by once Gato had confirmed that Nina had left. Nina's briefcase was locked, but Tetley made short work of that with a set of picks. Gato and Kelly sorted through the notes as the cracker worked through the passwords to see the files on her laptop.  
  
"I'm still not getting what this Physalis is for," Kelly said, leafing through the blueprints he was looking at.  
  
"These are still all the plans as they stand," Gato said. "Nice machines."  
  
"Look who's working on them," Kelly said.  
  
"I'm in," said the cracker. Kelly, Gato, and Tetley all gathered around the desk as he began to open files. "Here's the files sent to Nina from Anaheim's Irvine plant. They're the weapons R&D."  
  
There was a collective gasp as the blueprint for the weapon the Physalis carried came on screen.  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick," Gato whispered.  
  
"Those sons of bitches," Kelly added.  
  
"Nuclear arms," Tetley said. "So that's why the Physalis has that radiation proofing. They're planning on using a nuclear warhead against us."  
  
"I'll start printing," said the cracker.  
  
For the next hour, the printer whirred and Tetley snapped digital photos of the plans. Gato sat silently in the living room, drinking beer. Kelly sat by him, equally quiet.  
  
At last, Tetley was done. He and his companion packed up and said, "Excellent work, gentlemen. Lt. Layzner, payment will be wired to your bank account. Lt. Gato, you'll be contacted in the future about re-joining the Delaz fleet."  
  
"When?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know. You'll be contacted." He saluted. "Sieg Jion."  
  
Gato and Kelly returned the salute and Tetley left. Once he was gone, Kelly said, "Gato, you're one lucky bastard. You'll be back in a mobile suit in no time!"  
  
"I certainly hope so. Nuclear weapons. The Federation has gone too far this time." He sat down on the floor and began replacing the blueprints into Nina's briefcase according to notes they had taken on where they had been. "The Feddies must be stopped, and Jion needs me to help stop them. Every fibre of my being is crying out against this outrage. And yet..." his voice trailed off and his eyes settled on the bed he shared with Nina.  
  
"I know, man. I know." Kelly patted him on the shoulder. "I gotta get home to the little woman. I'll call you tomorrow."  
  
Alone again, Gato readied for bed and lay down. It was strange to not have Nina lying beside him. He lay a hand on her side of the bed, then drew her pillow into his arms. He inhaled her scent from it, then replaced it firmly. No. Sleeping alone was something he was going to have to once again be accustomed. No gentle hands on his skin, setting his nerves on fire. No sweet soft body beneath his as they made love. No comforting arms around him when he awakened from bad dreams.  
  
Gato took a sheet and blanket and fell asleep on the couch.  
  
*"Magic" by Jacob Wheeler, the first closing theme song from "Stardust Memory" 


	4. Chapter 4

Gato met Nina at the spaceport when she returned from New Amsterdam. The trip had gone well, and she chattered happily at him as they waited for the train home.  
  
"...My sister's expecting her first baby. She held the news until I got there, which was really sweet of her, don't you think?"  
  
She kept going with the constant talk as they rode back into the city.  
  
"They're happy to hear that I've met somebody new, and I think they do understand why I'm being quiet about it. After all, no other boyfriend's stayed with me very long."  
  
Anavel sighed deeply and hazarded a guess as to why. Her prattle continued even after they'd reached their apartment.  
  
"My parents' new house really is very nice. It's smaller because it's just them now, but it's better set up than any place I've ever lived in with them." Nina stopped to take a breath before launching into a description of the house until something prompted her to notice that Gato had hardly said a word. At first she thought it was because she'd been jabbering nonstop since she'd arrived. Then she saw the expression on her lover's face as he hung up his jacket.  
  
She couldn't quite identify it. He didn't look angry exactly, and he didn't look merely sad. It was very close to the look he'd had when gazing from the Zaku towards Side 3.  
  
"Something's wrong," she said.  
  
"I had a lot of time to think over the weekend," Gato told her.  
  
Nina sat down on the couch. "You're leaving me. What did I do?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, I'm not leaving you. I just started to wonder, Nina, do you ever stop to wonder if what you do is right?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
He sat down. "You know I'm bound by a non-disclosure agreement because sensitive material does sometimes come down to the mailroom shredder. Well, something came down there that upset me. A lot. It was a sketch of a Gundam called the Physalis."  
  
Nina's eyes almost popped out of her head. "How did that get in there?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't put the paper there, I just shred it. Anyway, it was very apparent to me that it's meant to be a radiation-proof mobile suit."  
  
"I won't confirm or deny that, Anavel."  
  
"I'm not going to ask you to. I know that Jion does not have any nuclear weapons. So there is no need for a radiation-proof Gundam against them. The only reason to have such a thing is if the Federation, of which I know Luna is not a member, has nuclear weapons of its own and wants to use them in combat, combat which includes this Physalis prototype." He paced back and forth. "Unless the Federation is afraid of an invasion of little green men from Mars, packing nukes. Somehow, I think that's rather unlikely. Don't you?"  
  
Nina's eyes narrowed. "I cannot and will not discuss this with you, Anavel Gato. To answer your very first question, no. I don't think about whether what I do is right or wrong. I design mobile suits because I love them. I will not give that up for anyone or anything. If the Federation wants a radiation-proof suit, I design it. If they want one that only a New Type can pilot, I'll make it for them. I don't design the weaponry, I only create a mobile suit that will handle that weaponry without damaging my beautiful machine."  
  
She stood and walked away from him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower. Here's the Sunday paper. You might want to start looking for another job if you're going to have this kind of moral crisis about working at Anaheim."  
  
Nina did pause for one moment to look back at him from the bathroom door. "One last thing, Anavel, and I'm saying this as a neutral Lunarian. I respect the Zabi regime for being the ones to invent the mobile suit. Nonetheless, your side lost. Get over it." With that, she closed the door behind her.  
  
"What a fucking bitch," Kelly commented as Gato recounted the story to him in a seedy dive bar in the lower depths of the city. "I mean, I can tell Laetura's thought that a few times, but she'd never go so far as to say it."  
  
"Laetura's got much more to lose than Nina." Gato took another sip of his gin and tonic. "Anyway, what do I do now, Kelly? What's the proper next step after she's said something that wretchedly ugly to me?"  
  
Kelly thought about it. "You love Nina?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"You like the sex?"  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
"You got another place to sleep?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well there you go. She's right in a way, our side did lose. But we don't have to accept that, or I wouldn't be working on my little project in the garage. But Nina can't know that. She just thinks you're being obsessive. So go home to your woman like I'm going to go home to mine, and don't say a word about it. You were mad, it's blown over now. That's all she needs to know."  
  
"That's what I'll do then," Gato said, and finished his drink.  
  
Nina was already in bed when he returned home. As Gato undressed, he noticed the pile of crumpled tissues in the garbage can on her side of the bed. She'd been crying, and that made him feel much better. He slid under the covers and Nina automatically wriggled into his arms.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have thrown that in your face like I did."  
  
"Don't think about it," Gato said, stroking her hair. "We'll just forget it ever happened."  
  
Time passed.  
  
August 15, the 11th anniversary of the establishment of the Kingdom of Jion, arrived. Jion refugees from all around Von Braun showed up to Kelly's junkyard, needing private property in order to avoid asking for a city permit to meet. Nina and Laetura grumbled as they found themselves in the kitchen serving up gallons of potato salad and cole slaw that they were grateful were purchased from a restaurant supply house. The mostly male crowd outside was jovial though, playing volleyball, musical instruments, and getting drunk over happier memories of the One Year War.  
  
"I took off work for THIS?" Nina snarled as she and Laetura dragged off another load of dirty paper plates.  
  
"Get used to it, hun. This is what you and I married," Laetura told her.  
  
"You married it. I didn't."  
  
"Give it time! I saw how Anavel was looking at you earlier today."  
  
Nina dropped the paper plates into the garbage bin, pushed her hair back from her face and smiled. "We had an unusually good time this morning before we came over here."  
  
"So did me and Kelly." Laetura leaned back against the fence behind her. "I guess today gives them a chance to pretend that their country's not gone."  
  
"Laetura," Nina started, leaning against the fence too, "do you have a hard time, I don't know, keeping Kelly from wishing his life away? Anavel keeps acting as if the war might start again, and that's the thing he wants most in the world."  
  
Laetura sighed. "Yeah. Except even if it did, Kelly would have to stay here with me because of his arm. I never thought I'd be happy my husband was crippled, but I am. He's got to stay with me. He's got no choice."  
  
The afternoon wore into night. Nina and Laetura settled down in the living room with a chick flick, ignoring the Jions outside who were all six sheets to the wind by then.  
  
Then suddenly, it was quiet except for the sound of a hundred voices murmuring in unison. The two women looked outside. The yard was illuminated now with torches, causing the space to be an interplay of flame and shadow. The Jions had gathered together in groups of four, left hands piled together, right hands raised in oath.  
  
"What're they doing?" Laetura asked.  
  
"I think they're renewing their vows," said Nina.  
  
Outside, Gato stood with Kelly's left sleeve clutched in his fingers as the left hands of two other Jions rested on his own. The boozy hollow-headed feeling, which had led to him feeling quite cheery earlier, now suddenly added a profundity to the moment which struck him to the bone. Just for the moment, the Federation had not won. Just for the moment, Anavel Gato was united with his brothers and sisters in pride and dignity again, even here on this barren rock which was the home of mercenary cowards. The spirit of Jion was not dead. It was merely sleeping, recovering its strength for the future.  
  
"...against all manner of folk," their low voices finished. "So help me God."  
  
A single voice suddenly cried out, "Never again A Bao A Qu!"  
  
"NEVER AGAIN!" came the unanimous response. They released each others' hands and stood with arms linked in a circle around the yard. While several had been playing music earlier, the instruments were now set aside as they raised their voices in song:  
  
Jion people, called now to battle/ Take up the armour and weapon/ And shake now the Earth's very centre/ With the sonorous sound of cannon. And shake now the Earth's very centre/ With the sonorous sound of cannon!  
  
Oh, Fatherland, crown-ed/ by an angel with wreaths of laurels/ for in heaven your future is written/ by the very finger of God!  
  
For if ever foreigners dare then/ To profane your sanctified soil/ Oh Fatherland, sacred duty/ Makes us all into soldiers for you!  
  
At the second line, Gato's own throat had tightened with emotion and he'd only been able to mouth the words. Yes. Jion would arise again, with a Zabi monarch to lead it. Someday, they would have their country.  
  
Although as he brushed his teeth that night, trying to get the sour taste of far too many beers from it before Nina complained, he reflected that it was very strange that Tetley hadn't made an appearance.  
  
Time passed.  
  
Christmas arrived. This had always been Gato's favourite time of year, but the first thought in his head Christmas morning was, "Dozel Zabi died today." He did not share his thoughts with Nina. They exchanged gifts. She went with him to church. He pretended to be happy. They went to Kelly's and Laetura's for dinner and Gato found to his dismay that Kelly's happy-husband act was convincing because it was real.  
  
"Can't help it. I've just been feeling really good lately," Kelly said as they clandestinely sipped bourbon in the warehouse. "The business is doing all right and Laetura's turning out to be a really good partner. You were right. She is proud of me. I think that maybe being a small business owner might suit me."  
  
"So a job and a wife are all you've needed to be happy?" Gato asked.  
  
"Looks that way," Kelly told him.  
  
Gato looked down. "What's wrong with me, then?"  
  
"Why don't you quit Anaheim? You got what you went there for."  
  
"I don't know what else to do with myself. I've never been anything but a soldier. I went straight from the Academy into war. I have no skills except those related to warfare. Unless Delaz sends for me, I'm completely useless. Do you know that I've never lived by myself? I went from my parents, to the Academy, into the service, then onto the street with you. And now I'm with Nina." He took a slug of bourbon. "I'm like a child, Kelly. It was hard to admit to myself, but I am. Just a 23 year-old, six foot, mewling--"  
  
Kelly punched him. His single arm had become immensely powerful to compensate for the loss of the other, so his punch was like a kick from a mule. Gato flew five feet and landed on the cement floor.  
  
"Look, will you quit with this self-pitying bullshit?" Kelly yelled at him. "You got out alive, didn't you? You got a job, don't you? You're sleeping with a girlfriend who makes a lot of money, and she's a piece of ass, right? So shut up. You're making me wonder which one of us is really the maimed one."  
  
Gato sat up slowly. He picked up the fallen bottle, got to his feet, and didn't say anything more.  
  
New Year's Eve found Gato drinking silently at home. Nina sat with him for a while, then decided to go join her Anaheim co-workers at a bar downtown. He nodded his assent and remained on the couch with a bottle of gin, watching the hands of the clock on the wall pass midnight. He remembered Admiral Delaz's burning eyes as the older man had forbidden him to fly to his death at A Bao A Qu. "For now you must endure..."  
  
Well, he was enduring all right, but for what? Tetley was nowhere to be seen, and the only Delaz contact was Cima Garahau, who occasionally sent mobile armour parts to Kelly. Damned if Gato was going to have anything to do with that genocidal whore of Kishiria's.  
  
He spent the next day in bed with a very real hangover. Nina was not quite as miserable, so she occupied herself with nursing him. By evening they were both recovered enough to share a pizza, after which they passed the remaining hours of the day making love.  
  
As he fell asleep with his head pillowed against Nina's breasts, Gato thought, so this is it. This is the rest of my life. He fell into restless dreams.  
  
At lunch the next day, Gato found a job posting for a mailroom supervisor at Anaheim's Livermore plant. It was more remote, but the money was good enough to make up for the inconvenience. He applied and had the job a month later. He was told on being accepted that the reason he'd been chosen was because he'd been an officer, used to both giving and receiving orders. With two professional incomes flowing into the bank, he and Nina started saving up for a house.  
  
Time passed.  
  
"Hi honey, I'm home!" Nina called from the front door as she came in from another Saturday working at Anaheim.  
  
"I'm in the kitchen," Gato called back. Nina dropped off her briefcase and joined him in there as she undid her uniform jacket.  
  
"What's for dinner?"  
  
"Chicken piccata with roast potatoes and green beans."  
  
"Ooh. Anavel Gato, I am the luckiest woman in the world." She went to the bedroom area and started changing. "You're not getting mad at me for how much I'm working, are you?"  
  
"No. I knew from the start you love your job. I'd be selfish to deny you that."  
  
"Okay. Listen, a bunch of the girls and their significant others are going out dancing tonight. I'd like to go, so of course, I need you."  
  
"Sure." They had dinner, went out dancing, and came home and went to bed.  
  
Gato woke up screaming. He made up a story to Nina about dreaming he was back at A Bao A Qu, but the fact was that the dream had simply been that his parents had told him they were ashamed of him, and walked away, deaf to his protests.  
  
He couldn't figure out why. Work was fine. It was much easier now that he didn't have the secondary job of being an industrial spy. He took in the mail, he kept the books on office supplies, he made sure all the deliveries ran smoothly. It was a highly-detailed job and it kept him occupied. He made friends with the other guys in the mailroom and finally had men other than just Kelly to drink with. They went to football games together. He returned home every night to his beautiful Nina, although sometimes she was still at the office, working on her projects.  
  
He woke up in a cold sweat at least once a week, so he took to having a glass of whiskey before bedtime. Nina didn't seem to mind at first; she liked how it made him more relaxed and less inhibited. Eventually, though, it began to worry her, a situation that led to their second serious fight.  
  
"I don't understand," she pleaded during it. "Why can't you just be happy, dammit?"  
  
He'd given in. "That's what Kelly has said, too."  
  
The next day on the bus, it struck Gato what was missing, what Kelly had that he didn't. He took a day off, not telling Nina, and headed for the pawn shops.  
  
There were plenty of engagement rings there, all within his budget. Jions generally didn't go for the diamond solitaire favoured in North America, but since he didn't know what kind of stone Nina liked, he decided that one would do. As he was poring over a tray, he heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Only 50 credits? This is a solid platinum Academy ring!"  
  
The man behind the counter was arguing with a woman in a Jion service overcoat. It was travel-stained and her short blonde hair was less than clean.  
  
"Do you know how many of those things we get in a week?" the man said. "It's all you Jeeks have to sell. 50's my best offer."  
  
"Monica van der Kant?" Gato asked.  
  
"Anavel Gato?" her blue eyes lit up and she rushed forward to hug him. "I thought for sure you were dead!"  
  
"How did you get here?"  
  
Well, after you went to A Bao A Qu, I was stationed in Granada, assigned to the test unit there. That's where I was at war's end. I hung on there, I was on duty during the signing of the peace treaty-what a clusterfuck that was, Gato! Then I was the last Jion in Granada, taking down the flag, as it were. They just ejected all of us two weeks ago."  
  
"Ejected all of you...do you know an officer named Tetley?"  
  
She shook her head. "Sorry. Anyway, I'm just here to sell my ring, try to get some money to go home."  
  
"You know there's a ton of anti-Zabi propaganda waiting for you there."  
  
She nodded. "Yeah. But what can I say? I really want to go home, and I don't care what I have to do to make it."  
  
Gato reached into his pocket for the cash he'd intended to buy Nina's ring. He pressed it into Monica's hand. "Don't sell your Academy ring. Never do that. Take this money, use it to buy a ticket home."  
  
"You sure, Gato?"  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
She looked down at the bills in her hand. "Um, do you think you could spare some for a meal, too?"  
  
"I'll do you one better. Come on to my place. I'll feed you and wash your clothes."  
  
"Do you know," she asked, "that the only thing I have that's clean is my uniform?"  
  
"Then that's what you should wear on the journey home," Gato told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Nina came home early. She took in the sight of a recently-showered woman dressed only in Nina's own bathrobe, sitting at the table, waiting for Nina's own boyfriend to finish preparing some food.  
  
"ANAVEL GATO, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"  
  
Gato emerged from the kitchen and set a plate down in front of Monica. "Nina, Lt. Monica van der Kant.  
  
"Hi, Nina!" Monica chirped.  
  
"Monica was stationed with me on Solomon. I found her on the street today and I'm just getting her set up to go home to Side 3."  
  
Nina's paranoia seemed to abate a little. "She's in my bathrobe."  
  
"It was that or me being naked," Monica said. "Neither of us thought you'd like that very much. All my clothes are in the wash."  
  
The buzzer sounded and Gato went off to reach into the dryer. Nina dropped her briefcase by the computer and went to the bathroom, refusing to talk to Monica any further. As she was in there, she heard the front door buzzer go off.  
  
"Oh good, the Zabis aren't dead, they're just coming to live in my apartment," Nina groused as she flushed. When she came back into the main room, Monica was in her bra and briefs and in the process of stepping into her trousers. Gato was sliding her epaulets onto the shoulders of her tunic as Kelly Layzner looked on, truck keys in hand.  
  
"Do you always just get naked in front of each other?" Nina asked.  
  
All three Jions snickered. "Somebody's never lived in tight quarters on Solomon," Kelly observed.  
  
"Where else was I supposed to change?" Monica asked. "It's not like I've never been in the shower with these two hooligans before." She ruffled Gato's hair like a dog's.  
  
Nina went into the kitchen and started heating up a frozen entree as Monica finished dressing in her green uniform. She draped her overcoat over her arm and hugged Gato. "Thanks for everything, Lieutenant."  
  
"My pleasure, van der Kant. You've got the letter for my parents?"  
  
She pointed to the leg of her boot. "Right here. If they've moved, I'll find them."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Come on, the flight leaves at midnight, and you still have to get a ticket," Kelly said. Monica waved again as she followed him out.  
  
A cold silence hung over the room, like the kind of frigidity which keeps snow from falling. Nina sat down and ate her frozen dinner as Gato washed up. It was almost a relief when Nina snarled, "So, why weren't you at work today?"  
  
"I took a day off for some errands, but I didn't get anything done," he said.  
  
"What kind of errands?"  
  
"I was going to do some shopping for the house and surprise you, but I ran into Monica on the street and it didn't happen."  
  
"Look, I know that you can't turn away one of your old war buddies who needs help. Still, a lot of times I feel like there's no Nina and Anavel. There's Nina and the One Year War. I'm not living with a man, I'm living with a piece of history, something that ought to be in a glass case in a museum. I don't want a museum piece in my life, Anavel. I want a boyfriend, somebody who might become my husband someday. Is that so unreasonable?"  
  
It wasn't. Gato had to grant her that. "No. It makes perfect sense."  
  
"Then act like it!" She raised her hands to her forehead in frustration, then lowered them again. "Tell me one thing, though. If something happened, I don't know, it turned out Garma Zabi were really still alive, and he called for a war to re-take Side 3 from the Federation, would you go along with it? Would you leave me and follow him?"  
  
Gato raised his chin. "Of course. He'd be my sovereign and I'd follow him until death."  
  
"Dammit!" Nina stomped to the closet and grabbed Gato's dufflebag. She hurled it at him and the plastic box containing his uniform clattered to the floor.  
  
They both stared down at it for a long moment. Nina made the first move by hitching her skirt above her knees and kicking it like a soccer ball to the other side of the room.  
  
Gato went to grab the precious box, clutching it to his chest. Nina was already moving, scooping his clothes out of his dresser drawers and dumping them in the duffle. She was pulling his work clothes off hangers when she looked at him and sobbed, "Why aren't you stopping me?"  
  
"Give me a reason why I should," Gato responded as he tucked the box into the duffle.  
  
Nina marched over to the bed and snatched the Jion flag from the wall. She balled it up and hurled it in his face. Gato was pulling it off and trying to fold it swiftly when Nina grabbed his duffle, hit the button to open the window, and let it fly.  
  
What a tactician, he fumed as he ran down the emergency stairs, flag still in hand. Nina had found a way to get him out of the apartment without giving him a chance to say a word. He had to get that bag. It was imperative. He raced out the door and around the corner, finding that it already had a curious teen on a bicycle investigating the contents. Gato delivered a furious kick to the bike, sending the kid to the sidewalk, and grabbed the bag. He had the keys he needed for work, his flag, most of his clothes, and his uniform. Everything else could be replaced. As he walked to the bus stop, he glanced up at Nina's window. She wasn't looking out.  
  
"Nina threw your shit out the window and you didn't throw her out after it?" Kelly said over the phone later.  
  
Gato was in a hotel room, a room service meal untouched in front of him. "If I did that, I couldn't get my stuff."  
  
"Who cares? It's the principle of the thing. If Laetura did that, I'd toss her in the metal crusher."  
  
"Kelly! Is she listening?"  
  
"Laetura would never do that. She's too sensible. So what're you going to do?"  
  
"Get a furnished place. I figure she probably wants me to come crawling back, and damned if I'm going to do that. We were just plain bad for each other."  
  
He went to work the next day and received a note from Nina in company mail. He tossed it in the shredder, unread. He found a furnished one-bedroom that was more expensive than he would have liked, but it was a short walk from work and he didn't anticipate going out much. As soon as he was alone inside he hung his flag over the bed, steamed his uniform and hung it up in the closet as if he were going to put it on the next day. Gato smiled, a feeling of pure tranquility filling his heart.  
  
Once that was done, though, there was nothing else. Gato went to work. He went drinking with the guys. He came home. A few times a week he worked out. He occasionally read what was going into the shredder at the Livermore plant, but there was no one asking him about it so his interest in that soon waned.  
  
Finally, a beacon of hope arrived in the form of a letter from Monica van der Kant, addressed to "Supervisor, Mail Room, Anaheim Electronics, Livermore Plant". He tore it open. There was a letter from Monica herself inside, folded around several sheets of cream-coloured stationery. Gato set Monica's letter aside for later and started devouring the contents of the other one, written as it was in his mother's neat cursive:  
  
Dear Son.  
  
How grateful we are to hear from you. Your father and I have been praying for your safety every night. We're both well, a little tired perhaps, but no worse than that. Once the Republic was declared, your father was taken into custody for a month, but he wasn't harmed. He was a general overseeing paperwork for the Reserves, so the Feddies bored with him quickly and released him. He lost his military pension and we had to sell the house. We're in an apartment now, but the balcony is large so I can still do my gardening. Your father has decided to take a degree in chemistry, just to have something to do.  
  
Zum City is a sad place these days, and we're thinking about moving somewhere else. The Zabis were never too bad about building monuments to themselves, but now every statue or painting of His Majesty is gone. Instead, we have to look at Prime Minister-oh pardon me, PRESIDENT Darcia's smiling face whenever we go to the post office. Far be it from me to say a harsh word about anyone, but the man is an opportunist and a quisling and I can't wait to be rid of him. They destroyed statues of Giren Zabi first. Rumour has it they shot his mistress and his cats the night the surrender was signed. However there was a huge howl of protest when they went after the statues of Garma, which of course were only put up after the poor boy died, so they left those alone. For now.  
  
Do you think going to Axis would be possible for us? Maybe you could go too, and we could be a family again, living under a Zabi monarch. I know life there is not easy; Princess Zena died nursing the sick during an outbreak of diptheria when the sanitation systems overloaded. I'm sure that's been taken care of now although it's a good thing this apartment has gotten us used to cramped spaces.  
  
The girl Monica who brought this to us says you're living with your girlfriend. You know what your father and I think of that arrangement, so I won't waste ink here. But rest assured, that is the only area where you have disappointed us, ever. We trust you to do the right thing.  
  
Write back soon, Anavel. We remain as ever, your loving Mom and Dad.  
  
There was a photo of his parents inside, showing them smiling against the Zum City skyline, from their balcony no doubt. They did look well, although somewhat greyer and more lined than when he'd last seen them. Well, so was he. He tucked the letter and the photo into his wallet.  
  
A month later, Kelly called him at work.  
  
"Can you come over tonight?"  
  
Gato snorted as he checked things off on an inventory list. "What else am I going to do? What's Laetura cooking?"  
  
"I'm sending Laetura to the movies. Tetley's back."  
  
Gato felt his heart stop beating for a moment. "Forget after work. I'll be right there."  
  
Major Tetley stood as Gato came into the living room. "I'm sorry for taking so long, but I've been with Admiral Delaz. I told you that you'd be called to his side eventually, and that time is now. Ready?"  
  
Gato was silent for a moment. "Of course. Is Kelly coming along too?"  
  
Kelly shook his head. "I've got a job of my own. I'm rebuilding the whole Val Varo."  
  
"Really!"  
  
"Weren't you looking forward to this?" Tetley asked.  
  
"I've been dying for it," Gato said. "I've known it was coming for almost a year now, and sometimes I thought it would never come. I'm a little in shock. The thought of being without Kelly is a strange one, too." His eyes had not drifted away from his friend.  
  
"C'mon, you're not going to turn this down just to hang out with me, are ya?" Kelly asked.  
  
"Oh, no way. It's just...we've been through so much together. It's hard to imagine you not being at my side."  
  
"I'll be there eventually, Gato. I'm fixing this old mobile armour so I'll be able to fly it. Sooner or later, I'll be getting orders like you are now. Isn't that so, Tetley?"  
  
"Absolutely," Tetley said.  
  
"Major, could I have a moment alone with Lt. Layzner?"  
  
Tetley nodded and handed him an envelope. "The ship is a cargo transport of the Cima fleet. Here's the dock it's in. It'll board-not depart, board- at 0800 tomorrow, so don't be late. I'll meet you there." He left Gato and Kelly alone.  
  
Kelly looked at him. "Spending the night here?"  
  
Gato shook his head. "I have to go back to my place, get my things, leave the keys. I'd also like to make sure my uniform still fits."  
  
"Probably for the best. I don't want Laetura to know what's going on. It'll worry her."  
  
"So this is goodbye, I suppose."  
  
"Looks that way."  
  
"What about Laetura? What'll happen to her when your turn comes?"  
  
Kelly looked away. "She's a good woman. I'll make sure she's provided for, and beg her to understand. I don't want her to remember me as another bastard who used her and threw her away. We might live in a scrap yard, but she isn't trash."  
  
"Far from it." Gato looked thoughtful. "Until we meet again, Kelly. I'm sure it'll happen."  
  
"I am too." They clasped hands and realized in a second how inadequate the gesture was. They threw their arms around each other, Kelly's arm clutching Gato hard enough to choke off his breathing. Gato squeezed back.  
  
"I'll tell Delaz not to forget you when I see him," Gato said when they released each other.  
  
"You do that. Now get out of here before I start crying like a pussy."  
  
When Nina Purpleton got home from work at 9 pm, the first thing she noticed was that the apartment lights were on when she knew she'd turned them off. The other was that the place smelled wonderfully of food. Anavel, in a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, was setting the table.  
  
They stared at each other for what felt like a long time. Then he broke the silence by saying, "Dinner's almost ready. I know you must be hungry."  
  
"Why did you come back?" Nina asked.  
  
"I feel I owe it to you," Gato said. "I've got everything worked out, finally."  
  
When Nina started asking questions, he silenced her with a long kiss. He kept her quiet with beef Wellington and cheesecake. By the time dinner was finished, she'd decided she could postpone hearing his explanation, just for one night.  
  
Anavel carried her to the bed and gave her better things to think about, anyway. Many hours later, she fell asleep in his arms, his cheek pressed against the top of her head.  
  
Lulled as she was by good sex, food, and wine, Nina never awakened when Gato slipped out of bed and risked a brief shower. He reached into his duffle and removed a single rose in a plastic tube. He lay it and a note of apology on the pillow beside her. He kissed Nina's forehead lightly and gazed down at her.  
  
It would be so easy to simply undress and get back in bed. But what would that accomplish? Within months, or weeks more likely, his belongings would be going out the window again, this time after having lost the chance to fulfill his calling in life.  
  
Gato stood and picked up his duffle, resolutely turning his back to the sleeping woman. The door fell closed behind him with a soft click. 


End file.
